Nifong: The true villain of Duke lacrosse case

By Chris Cavagnaro

With the exoneration of the three suspects last week, the Duke lacrosse controversy is finally coming to a close. In the wake of the media circus that surrounded unfounded sexual assault charges pushed forward by an overzealous district attorney, the reputations of the accuser and accused have been permanently tarnished.

But there is at least one positive lesson to be learned from this otherwise-bleak situation: The scrutiny that our media places on public officials has ultimately led to some justice for the three alleged suspects and ruined the career of a corrupt District Attorney that attempted to abuse the powers of his office for his own personal gain.

When the case was first presented to the public in March 2006, the media could not have found a more easily dislikable group of suspects. Three Duke lacrosse players -- white male athletes without scholarships at an expensive private school -- were charged with kidnapping and sexual assault and portrayed as spoiled, arrogant, racist, white, upper-class jocks.

The Duke student body and faculty, civil rights leaders and personalities in the media expressed outrage, and with good reason. The Durham County District Attorney, Mike Nifong, stated, "I feel pretty confident that a rape occurred," and that "The circumstances of the rape indicated a deep racial motivation for some of the things that were done." In a later interview, Nifong went on to refer to the three suspects as "a bunch of hooligans." When a district attorney uses such strong language, people listen.

Today, over a year later, the case could not look any more different. Charges against the three suspects have been dropped, and Nifong has apologized for his incorrect judgment. The North Carolina State Bar has filed two sets of ethics charges against Nifong, the first for numerous public statements that led the public to prematurely condemn the accused, the second for withholding exculpatory DNA evidence.

The North Carolina Attorney General called Nifong a "rogue" prosecutor guilty of "overreaching." The media has come down hard on Nifong, as well, publicizing all disciplinary action against him.

Hollywood could not have drawn up a more compelling drama. Unfortunately, this drama was real, and people's lives and reputations were ruined in the process.

It is now clear that Nifong's case against the suspects was incredibly weak, but he pushed on for what many believe to be political reasons -- the high-profile case helped him win reelection last November. He made countless statements to the public, subjecting the suspects to incredible media scrutiny, causing public outrage. The case ended the lacrosse team's season and cost the coach his job. And most tragically, it subjected the alleged victim to the same amount of media scrutiny and character assassination as the suspects.

The victim was almost certainly seeking justice, not publicity, but she too was dragged through the mud by Nifong's relentless personal agenda.

It is unfortunate that our society is so obsessed with this type of news, because nothing good came out of this story being in the spotlight. However, the media and the public should feel good about the fact that, in the end, the real villain is finally being punished.

Nifong will not remain in office much longer because he is facing disciplinary action from the state bar and the Attorney General, and he will probably not hold another public office. But ironically and most importantly, Nifong is now facing the same media scrutiny and presumption of guilt to which he wrongfully subjected the three lacrosse players.

Chris Cavagnaro is a senior political science major.